1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an improvement of a toner container.
2. Description of Prior Art
In the image forming apparatus of an electrophotographic mode, there is widely employed a toner replenishing method wherein a toner container storing toner is installed in the image forming apparatus, and toner is supplied bit by bit to the image forming apparatus from the toner container in the course of operations of the image forming apparatus.
A toner container used in the toner replenishing method of this kind is figured out so that a toner outlet of the toner container may be opened automatically when the toner container is in an image forming apparatus, and the toner outlet may be closed automatically when the toner container is taken out of the image forming apparatus.
The toner container of this kind is composed of a container main body that stores toner and of a cap that covers a toner outlet of the container main body, and when the toner container is installed in the image forming apparatus, toner is supplied to the image forming apparatus from the container main body through the cap.
With respect to the toner container of this kind, each of Japanese Registration Patent No. 3868146 (Patent Document 1) and Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-71762 (Patent Document 2) discloses one wherein an ejecting fin, or an agitating member is provided in the vicinity of an outlet of the container main body for preventing that a portion of the toner outlet of the container main body is clogged with toner.
The toner container is required not to leak toner when the toner container is conveyed with toner stored in the toner container and when the toner replenishment is in execution under the condition that the toner container is installed in the image forming apparatus.
Each of the ejecting fin in Patent Document 1 and the agitating member in Patent Document 2 is provided on the container main body.
A toner outlet on the container main body is used also as a toner accepting inlet through which the toner is introduced when toner is filled.
In the case of the toner containers in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, each of the ejecting fin and the agitating member is in the structure to close a part of the toner accepting inlet to be an obstacle in the toner filling process, which causes problems that toner scattering occurs in the course of toner filling and the toner filling takes a long time.
As a measure for the aforesaid problems, it is possible to employ a method wherein toner is filled in a container main body having neither ejecting fin nor agitating member, then, the ejecting fin or the agitating member is installed and a cap is mounted finally. However, this method has problems that processes are complicated, and comingling of foreign substances as well as toner scattering tend to be caused.
Objectives of the invention is to solve the aforesaid problems in a conventional toner container, and to provide a toner container which can prevent toner scattering and comingling of foreign substances in production process to fill toner in the toner container and to seal with a cap, a method for producing toner product by filling toner in the toner container, and a toner replenishing method to replenish toner to an image forming apparatus from the toner container.